Climate change and its implications for the health of workers, agricultural production, and the environment

Abstract

Objective  This essay aimed to contribute to reflections on climate change (CC) and its implications for the health of workers (WH), agricultural production, and the environment in Brazil.

Methods  The work presents aspects of the production process in conventional agriculture and its relationship with increasing temperatures on the planet, as well as addressing sustainability as a strategy capable of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, with the possibility of maintaining economic and environmental gains for this production model.

Results  Furthermore, it highlights the potential dangers of CC for WH and the environment, even in conventional production models or family and subsistence agriculture, in which the latter has been more vulnerable, mainly due to the reduced capacity to respond to extreme events. It also highlights the importance of adopting prevention and damage reduction measures as mitigation and adaptation practices for CC.

Conclusion  It concludes that to combat CC and reduce impacts on WH and the environment, a new development model with sustainable production and consumption based on experiences of popular surveillance in territorial-based health and agroecology will be necessary.

Climate Change; Agriculture; Occupational Health; Greenhouse Gases; Sustainable Agriculture